Here they are! The semifinalists for the 2017 James Beard Awards. Categories range from Outstanding Restaurant to Rising Star Chef of the Year, and you may know them! The finalists will be announced in Los Angeles on Wednesday, March 15 with the winners announced on Monday, May 1.
Our special congratulations go out to Chef Omar Flores, Chef Bryce Gilmore, and Chef John Tesar all up for Best Chef: Southwest.
Best New Restaurant
Presented by True Refrigeration®
Flora Street Cafe, Dallas
Outstanding Bar Program
Anvil Bar & Refuge, Houston
Arnaud’s French 75 Bar, New Orleans
Cure, New Orleans
The Esquire Tavern, San Antonio
Outstanding Chef
Presented by All-Clad Metalcrafters
Donald Link, Herbsaint, New Orleans
Outstanding Pastry Chef
Kelly Fields, Willa Jean, New Orleans
Maggie Huff, FT33, Dallas
Laura Sawicki, Launderette, Austin
Outstanding Restaurateur
JoAnn Clevenger, Upperline, New Orleans
Tracy Vaught, H Town Restaurant Group, Houston (Hugo’s, Caracol, Backstreet Cafe, and others)
Outstanding Service
Brigtsen’s, New Orleans
Galatoire’s Restaurant, New Orleans
Hugo’s, Houston
Outstanding Wine Program
Presented by Robert Mondavi Winery
Bacchanal Fine Wine & Spirits, New Orleans
Rising Star Chef of the Year
Presented by S.Pellegrino® Sparkling Natural Mineral Water
Martha Wiggins, Sylvain, New Orleans
William Wright, Helen Greek Food and Wine, Houston
Best Chef: South
Nina Compton, Compère Lapin, New Orleans
Michael Gulotta, MoPho, New Orleans
Slade Rushing, Brennan’s, New Orleans
Michael Stoltzfus and Kristen Essig, Coquette, New Orleans
Isaac Toups, Toups’ Meatery, New Orleans
Rebecca Wilcomb, Herbsaint, New Orleans
Best Chef: Southwest
Omar Flores, Casa Rubia, Dallas
Bryce Gilmore, Barley Swine, Austin
Manabu Horiuchi, Kata Robata, Houston
Anita Jaisinghani, Pondicheri, Houston
Steve McHugh, Cured, San Antonio
Hugo Ortega, Hugo’s, Houston
Teiichi Sakurai, Tei-An Soba House, Dallas
Seth Siegel-Gardner and Terrence Gallivan, The Pass, Houston
John Tesar, Knife, Dallas
David Uygur, Lucia, Dallas
Jianyun Ye, Mala Sichuan Bistro, Houston